Forest restoration at Moore's Bush

Nestled in the beautiful Leith Valley, a short drive from Dunedin's CBD, Moore's Bush is a nature reserve that spans over 4ha of regenerated native bush. Wildlife abounds in this small forest from native birds in the canopy to fish, crayfish and other invertebrates in the waters of the Leith Stream that runs through the reserve.

From dairy farm to nature reserve

Moore's Bush Reserve is an example of successful ecological restoration. In 1945, Percy and Ellie Moore purchased the site, then a dairy farm flanked by a fragment of native bush, and began restoring this vegetation to its former glory of podocarp-hardwood forest, which was once predominant in the Leith Valley.

When Percy Moore passed away in 1974 the site was bequeathed to Forest & Bird, which has owned and managed it ever since. By then, the native bush planted by the Moores covered much of the area. Members of the Dunedin Branch continued reafforesting the land, which is now a lovely 30+ year old regenerated native forest that provides habitat to brown creepers, fantails, grey warblers and other native birds. The reserve also boasts a few centennial trees.

Visiting Moore's Bush

In the 90's, it was deemed logical to manage both Moore's Bush and the adjacent DoC Scenic Reserve, a 2ha crown land section, as one unit. Informal arrangement between the two parties exists, with Forest & Bird nominally managing both areas.

Securing the reserve boundaries

In 2013, Moore's Bush was partly refenced to secure the reserve boundaries against wandering stock from nearby farms. A contractor was hired by Forest & Bird to build a new fence on the northern edge of the reserve and design an effective flood-gate across the Leith Stream. Fencing was achieved thanks to the financial support of the Marjorie Barclay Trust.

DoC made their own arrangements to fence the western edge of Moore's Bush and the boundaries of the Scenic Reserve.

The old fence was cleared of overgrown vegetation and still stands today along the neighboring farm and Thompson Road.

Predator control

For several years from 2013, a pest control programme was managed within the area, run by Craig Pelvin and other Forest & Bird volunteers. It regularly captured mustelids and possums, amongst other pests.

Once predator numbers were down to a regular minimum, traps were uplifted and moved to other Forest & Bird conservation areas within Dunedin.

Ongoing conservation work

The current focus of the branch management is tree planting, removal of exotic weeds, and track and fence maintenance.

Planting and weeding. Overall the native trees planted on the reserve are growing well and becoming a healthy forest. For the future, our main task is to finish planting the remaining treeless areas and ensure these plantings survive by clearing them of smothering grass and invasive introduced weeds, primarily blackberry and broom.

The main plantings are of podocarps, pittosporums, coprosmas, broadleaf, wineberry, and fuschia.

How you can help

An extra pair of hands is always very welcome and volunteers have indeed greatly contributed to making Moore's Bush Reserve lush and beautiful. We primarily need help with tree planting and weeding and occasionally with clearing tracks and the flood-gate.